Revision is the process of going through a document by proofreading, editing and making the necessary changes to make the final work reflect the required standards. When viewed from writing perspective, revision entails making corrections in a written work by changing grammar errors, inappropriate sentence structure as well as making various changes in the structure of the paper to make it meet the expected standards. Also, revision can be viewed as a last-minute study where a student goes through all the topics studied over the semester to remind himself or herself just before sitting for the exams. It entails refreshing oneself a few days to the exams to get to remember any details that were covered but could have been forgotten.
I use revision when making certain changes in a research paper or any academic paper. Upon completion of writing a paper, I go through the whole of it just to ascertain that spelling, grammar, sentence structure, punctuations, and format are correct. It is a way I use to proofread my paper and ensure it is correct. I also use revision to make corrections after the instructor goes through it and recommend that certain areas should be corrected. The instructor may recommend that a given subtopic be added, some section is removed, the structure of the paper be changed or the format is changed. In such a scenario, I go through the paper and revise it according to the recommended changes. It is important to revise a paper because it helps one achieve better grade by eliminating mistakes.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Various theorists have come up with theories about classroom learning and revision. According to William Glasser in his “choice theory”, he describes indicators that are consistent with classroom management used by teachers to facilitate learning and revision tips for the students ( National Research Council. 2013 ). According to Glasser, revision is not merely making a few changes here and there, it involves making some significant changes to the whole paper. He proposes that while revising a paper, a student should give himself adequate time. Finish your paper a day before the deadline so that the last twelve hours is spent on revision. He also suggests that one should print a hard copy of the work because studies have shown that many students miss noticing certain mistakes while reading on the computer screens. Upon printing, re-read through and identify any mistakes that were not noticed. He also suggests that one ought to read the paper loud so that certain minor mistakes in the paper could be noticed. He further suggests the importance of getting a second reader to go through the paper before submitting it to the instructor. Through these suggestions, William Glasser adds his idea to the revision as a way of making certain corrections before submitting the final paper for marking.
Another theorist Winters (2016), “Theory and Creative Writing Classroom” adds to Williams view that revision is significant in identifying and correcting certain errors that may exist in a paper. Revision is a way of perfecting an academic writing and ensuring that students get better grades. Actual revision is more than making a few changes in a paper, but it requires an individual to open himself/herself that there could be possibilities of certain parts of the paper or sometimes even the entire paper might require rethinking or rewriting. He argues that achieving this state of mind might be very hard, requiring that the writer is attached to what he writes. Despite the fact that revision helps one achieve better grades, it goes beyond by making one a responsible and better writer. Even though going through a paper takes much time and energy, it provides a very good learning opportunity and experience development.
Revision can be done in various ways as suggested by some theorists. The first way in which one can revise a paper is by editing. This is the process of finding minor problems within a paper and making the necessary correction ( Castello, et al., 2013) . Such can be corrected by deleting a word or some sentences. I always edit my paper before submitting it for marking to ensure it is correct. The second method to revise a paper is by proofreading. This is basically searching for any mistakes that could be available in the paper. It involves reading through the whole paper to ascertain that there is no any mistake. Such mistakes could be spelling errors, punctuation errors, and subject-verb agreement and sentence structures. It is recommended that one adopts all the ways of revising a paper; edit and proofread the same paper before submitting. Some revisions can be large scale; requiring the writer to look through the whole paper for areas where the thinking could have gone awry. An example is where one is required to add a topic, an evidence or change some reasoning. Small-scale revision is where only minor sections of the paper require changes.
In conclusion, revision is useful in ensuring that the paper submitted by the student to the instructor is free from errors and mistakes. It both makes the student get better grade while at the same time become a better writer. Various theorists contribution to the idea of revision adds knowledge and broadens one’s understanding of why and how revision is done. It is therefore worth noting that revision is a useful activity in the classroom writing, and writers and students should always do it before presenting their work for marking.
References
National Research Council. (2013). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st century . National Academies Press.
Castelló, M., Iñesta, A., Pardo, M., Liesa, E., & Martínez-Fernández, R. (2012). Tutoring the end-of-studies dissertation: helping psychology students find their academic voice when revising academic texts. Higher Education , 63 (1), 97-115.
